From spirits to Italian craft beer, the story of Giuseppe Collesi.A story of ideas, adventures and success.

“When I was a boy, I studied technology in Città di Castello, but my true passion was something else. During my free time, I used to help my parents around the restaurant of our family’s agriturismo. I waited on tables and the thing I loved most was recommending my father’s homemade grappa to our clients. They would fall in love, because I knew how to portray it.

It was a product I felt so deeply about. The fragrances, the nuances of flavor, the techniques used to prepare it. So in 1997, I had an idea—to open my own distillery in the heart of Marche, in Apecchio, the historic hill town where I’d always lived. My friends told me that I was crazy. Real Italian grappa is made in Friuli, in Veneto and in Trentino. But I didn’t let that discourage me. The distillery opened at the end on 2001. And as early as 2002, I started to win prizes and awards, and today, Grappe Collesi is known as a brand of excellence and the first and most famous distillery in Marche.

I had always loved adventures and I was ready to live a new one. During a prestigious tasting at the Senate of the Republic, with 45 ambassadors from all over the world, I saw the Belgian ambassador, an old friend of mine. He was the first to give me some input and said, ‘Why don’t you open a brewery?’ It was a phrase that inspired me. At my disposal were extraordinary raw materials: the fresh water from the Monte Nerone reservoir and high quality barley, cultivated in the ancient family estates. Plus, I had the know-how of a Belgian brewer that I had invited to Apecchio. I was ready to launch this new venture: creating a high quality Italian craft beer inspired by the traditions that had been passed down for centuries. And this time, my friends didn’t say a word.

I started building the Birra Collesi business in 2005. In November of 2007, I brewed my first beer and in March of 2008, I started commercializing it. And as for the grappa, I didn’t have to wait long before the many national and international prizes started coming in.

The reasons for this success? As for the spirits, I’ve always tried to do my best in terms of a unique sensory experience that would express the link between land and tradition. A link that also shines through in our family crest, which I wanted to print on both our spirits and our Collesi Craft Beers. The crest was created in 1870 by my great-great-grandfather, and first mayor of Apecchio, just after the Italian unification. It has a tower, which symbolizes our village, surrounded by three stars, which have certainly brought me luck.”